HERITAGE RECORD · 754

Lake Baikal

贝加尔湖

The official record, selection criteria and sourced cultural context.

World Heritage record

Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and isolation have produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science.

Open the official UNESCO record ↗

Wikidata reference

QIDQ5513 ↗

Area31722 ha

Administrative areaQ6809 · Q6585

WikipediaLake Baikal ↗

Chinese Wikipedia贝加尔湖 ↗

Imported locally from Wikidata; it does not replace the UNESCO record or editorial copy.

Selection criteria

This property was inscribed under the following World Heritage Convention criteria.

(vii)Superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

(viii)An outstanding record of Earth’s history, geological processes or significant landforms.

(ix)Outstanding ecological and biological processes in the evolution of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems.

(x)The most important natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity.

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